


A Thin Line

by ArtemisRae



Series: Alphabet Challenge [19]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Canon - Manga, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-05-31
Updated: 2009-05-31
Packaged: 2017-10-07 22:21:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/69840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtemisRae/pseuds/ArtemisRae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The office, after Hughes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Thin Line

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my alphabet drabbles challenge, where I've given a prompt for every letter of the alphabet. This prompt was "laughter"

* * *

_laughter_  
-noun  
1\. an inner quality, mood, disposition, etc., suggestive of laughter

* * *

 

The week after Hughes' funeral, the office takes an on an awkward, somber atmosphere. Nobody knows what to say, and once they all realize that Roy prefers that they say nothing, nobody knows how to act either. Normally their compass in such situations is Riza, who is dealing with her own grief, and so they all decide that it's safest to sit quietly and wait.

They've never been the most professional office in Central; despite Riza's best efforts, Roy will do anything he can to get out of paperwork, and Havoc and the others can't help if they only try to follow in their esteemed leader's example. Too many days are filled with excuses for cigarette breaks, lunch-time chess games that extend all through the afternoon, begging out early for dates, and the mandatory smirks and chuckles that give away everyone's true intentions.

Hughes' death has upset all of that, and they are helpless to invoke his memory and return to some sense of normalcy. They work with tired, unintended efficiency until the day Riza, reviewing some paperwork from the previous day, looks up at Roy with an unamused look on her face. "Sir," she says in a pointed, weary tone, "I've told you before not to sign other colonels 'names to these forms."

Roy blinks at her blankly for a minute, and then pulls a face: that little kid pout that's his first line of defense only because it never _ever_ works on Riza. "But then I don't have to deal with the follow up!" he explains, his tone only a few shades away from whining.

Riza just shakes her head at him, and leaves the room to find fresh copies of the forms Roy has ruined. As soon as she leaves, Breda, staring determinedly down at his own paperwork, snickers.

Everyone holds their breaths, and turns their gaze towards their commander, who thankfully leans back in his chair, runs a hand over his face, and grins.

* * *


End file.
